Asyst launches aggressive European expansion; The SMIF automation technology leader reveals plans to increase manufacturing capacity, open new support offices and triple staff in Europe by year end.GENEVA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 5, 1995--Asyst Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :ASYT), today announced it is rapidly expanding its European operations in response to accelerated semiconductor industry demand for minienvironments and automation systems. The company's aggressive plans call for enlarging manufacturing capacity at Asyst's France facility, opening support centers in Germany and The Netherlands, and tripling its European staff. Asyst is the world's leading supplier of systems that integrate automated material tracking, control and automation with minienvironments and Standard Mechanical InterFace (SMIF SMIF Standard Mechanical Interface SMIF Stream-based Model Interchange Format SMIF Shared Materials Instrumentation Facility (Duke University) SMIF Stanford Management Internship Fund SMIF SMAD4-Interacting Transcription Factor ) technology. For more than a decade, device makers worldwide have minimized their capital and operating expenses Operating expenses The amount paid for asset maintenance or the cost of doing business, excluding depreciation. Earnings are distributed after operating expenses are deducted. , and improved their time-to-market capability by implementing Asyst's solutions. Asyst's managing Director of European Operations Hugh O'Reilly The Most Reverend Dr. Hugh O’Reilly was an Irish Catholic bishop. He was appointed the Coadjutor Bishop of the Diocese of Clogher in Ireland on 27 April, 1777. He was ordained a bishop on 29 July of that same year. noted that while there is a global trend of increased acceptance of minienvironments and automation system, European semiconductor device makers in particular are implementing these systems at record rates because of their economic benefits. Explained O'Reilly, "Europe is turning up the heat on its global competition by implementing strategies that increase fab efficiency and maximize profitability. One proven method of saving money in fabs is automation and integrated SMIF. That's why six European companies ordered Asyst's integrated SMIF minienvironments and/or automation systems during the last 12 months." The six customers are Philips Caen, ASML ASML Abstract State Machine Language ASML Anisotropic Shielded Microstrip Line (an equipment maker), TEMIC TEMIC Telecommunications Executive Management Institute of Canada , Siemens, Philips Electronics N.V. and SGS-Thomson. To support current customers and future users, Asyst is significantly enlarging the manufacturing capacity of its Paris facility, where the company presently fabricates its patented minienvironments (called SMIF-Enclosures) using 100 percent European content. The company is also currently hiring additional employees for its Paris facility plus two proposed support offices in Germany and The Netherlands. O'Reilly estimates Asyst will increase its European staff by 300 percent before the end of 1995. The company is seeking field service engineers, software applications and support engineers, a director of European Sales, fabricators, inspectors and system integration engineers. In conjunction with the facilities and staff expansion, Asyst is implementing several technological advances including a worldwide, real-time order status reporting system and product configuration capabilities. Using laptop computers and state-of-the-art CAD applications software, Asyst's field engineers and technical staff will provide computer-generated plans to meet customers' unique specifications. According to O'Reilly, the expanded technical staff in Europe will also be trained to provide individualized in·di·vid·u·al·ize tr.v. in·di·vid·u·al·ized, in·di·vid·u·al·iz·ing, in·di·vid·u·al·iz·es 1. To give individuality to. 2. To consider or treat individually; particularize. 3. cleanroom audits for both current and prospective customers. The audits include airborne particle count measurements and Particles per Wafer per Pass (PWP PWP Parents Without Partners PWP People With Parkinson's (disease) PWP Plot, What Plot? PWP Password Protected PWP Professional Women Photographers PWP Porn Without Plot (fanfiction and erotica) ) tests. O'Reilly credits its newly formed subsidiary, Asyst Automation, Inc., with driving European sales in a new market for Asyst -- the up-and-coming area of inter-bay and intra-bay automation. As announced earlier this year, Asyst Automation received in excess of $20 million in European orders from Siemens, Philips Electronics N.V. and SGS-Thomson. The orders cover Asyst's automated wafer and reticle ret·i·cle n. A grid or pattern placed in the eyepiece of an optical instrument, used to establish scale or position. [Latin r handling, transport and storage products including automated reticle stockers and stocking systems. The equipment is scheduled to be delivered through June 1996. About Asyst: Asyst Technologies, Inc., is a leading provider of process control and automation systems that help semiconductor manufacturers reduce their integrated circuit production costs. The company's Asyst-SMIF System combines state-of-the-art minienvironments with advanced robotics to create ultraclean processing environments that are both comprehensive and flexible. The SMART-Traveler System (STS (Synchronous Transport Signal) The electrical equivalent of the SONET optical signal. In SDH, the European counterpart of SONET, STS is known as STM (Synchronous Transport Module). ) works in tandem with SMIF to eliminate misprocessing. Both Asyst-SMIF and its companion STS products are integral to the seamless factory automation of the future. Asyst has recently created a new subsidiary, Asyst Automation, Inc., that focuses on material handling control software and inter-bay/intra-bay automation. Founded in 1984, Asyst Technologies, Inc., is headquartered in Milpitas, Calif, with facilities in Europe and the Far East. The company's common stock trades on the NASDAQ Stock Market Nasdaq stock market The first electronic stock market listing over 5000 companies. The Nasdaq stock market comprises two separate markets, namely the Nasdaq National Market, which trades large, active securities and the Nasdaq Smallcap Market that trades emerging growth companies. under the symbol ASYT. About SMIF: SMIF, which stands for Standard Mechanical InterFace, enables wafer transfer to and from the sealed SMIF environments without exposure to the ambient. -0- Note to Editors: Asyst executives, including President Bruce Rhine, will be attending SEMICON/Europa, April 4-6, in Geneva Geneva, canton and city, Switzerland Geneva (jənē`və), Fr. Genève, canton (1990 pop. 373,019), 109 sq mi (282 sq km), SW Switzerland, surrounding the southwest tip of the Lake of Geneva. , Switzerland. Asyst's booth number is 916. CONTACT: Asyst Technologies, Inc., Milpitas Bruce Rhine, 408/263-5111 or 408/263-1668 (fax) or MCA MCA in full Music Corporation of America Entertainment conglomerate. It was founded in Chicago in 1924 by Jules Stein as a talent agency. In the 1960s it bought Decca Records and Universal Pictures, and today it produces films, music, and television shows. , Inc. Margaret Pereira, 415/968-8900 or 415/968-8990 (fax) |
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